Spectacular Sunset Over the Rocky Mountains

We recently had a quintessential Rocky Mountain late afternoon. We decided to drive to a nearby trailhead to take a hike. Along the way, we passed a group of elk grazing below some beautiful peaks with a frozen pond behind them.

We arrived at our trailhead, and we climbed straight up a very steep south-facing slope. We chose that route because the snow melts much faster when a slope faces south. As we approached the top of the incredibly steep ridge, we could see that the sunset was going to be spectacular from the glow of the sky to the west.

It was so spectacular that I was paralyzed, standing and watching it change colors. We could see the local ski area with the sky brilliant above it.

We could see a very tall peak a bit to the south of the ski area.

And a 14er was visible even further to the south. I loved the pinkish reflection of the sky on its snow.

I managed to hike a tiny bit before the sunset was almost over... but, ah, what a sunset it was! We had to hike fast to make it back to our vehicle before it got dark. We know this hike very well because it's a wintertime favorite of ours so we did fine in the dusky light.

I feel so lucky that we live in such a peaceful and beautiful place. Seeing the mountains on our horizon was always a dream of mine, and it's come true!